Simulated warfare is a common recreational pass-time in modern days. It may also be used for more serious professional training. Simulated warfare takes many forms, depending on the simulated weapons used. For medieval scenarios, padded or blunted arrows, swords, spears, and other implements are used. Two forms of modern warfare simulation are commonly used, paintball and airsoft. Specialized tools are used for simulating modern warfare and firearms and ordinance. Both simulations utilize a “firearm” which launches a projectile using compressed air, rather than controlled explosions. In paintball, a capsule filled with a specialized paint while in airsoft the pellet is smaller and not filled with anything. Since the lethality of modern, standard weapons is found in the combination of a projectile mass and velocity, both are typically reduced to make simulated warfare safer. The kinetic energy of a projectile is given as E=mv2/2. For comparison, an AR-5 typically fires a 39 g bullet 975 m/s, with kinetic energy of 1854 joules and a 9 mm handgun typically fires a 75 g bullet 286 m/s with kinetic energy of 467 joules. A .68 caliber paintball has a mass of about 3 g and is typically fired at 90 m/s (a little over 12 joules) and an airsoft pellet typically has a mass of 0.2 g and is fired at about 110 m/s in close quarters situations (higher for outdoors and greater distance) and possesses a kinetic energy of about 1.2 joules. With simple protective clothing and equipment, simulated warfare using paintball or airsoft ammunition is generally seen as a safe and reasonable activity.
As simulated warfare becomes more and more accepted and advanced, new tools are used to simulate modern warfare equipment. One such item of equipment is the anti-personnel device known as the mortar. Mortars have been in use for about 600 years and are like cannons but they have a short barrel and typically fire a low-velocity projectile of significant weight. On impact, a mortar shell will cause significant damage to both personnel and infra-structure. However, simulating a mortar causes significant problems because the damage must be simulated in a safe manner. To this end, mortars, cannons, and other types of these devices are typically simulated by using either a light weight rocket shell (for which hits must be estimated) or a launch canister which will launch large numbers of pellets at the same time in a general direction. With the latter, the sheer number of pellets replaces a single, heavier projectile, and provides an approximation of the area affected with the damage such a projectile could inflict. Unfortunately, loading a significant number of pellets into a launch canister is time consuming and the effort can be prohibitive. Therefore, an easier reloading of such canisters would lend itself to the use of such devices and a more accurate simulation.
Grenades are also a common feature in modern warfare which may be simulated. Early grenades date back to the 8th century AD and are small explosives typically thrown by hand, but more recently have been rocket propelled. Like the mortar, these devices tend to be simulated by a rocket or a light casing which is thrown or launched into an area where a referee calls out hits.
The present invention is a modular constructed launch canister for a plurality of loaded simulated ammunition pellets. The canister is gas fed and enables the launch of the entire plurality of pellets at one time in a general direction. These pellets then disburse slightly on launch and through travel to an impact zone. Everything in the impact zone is hit with a portion of the pellets. The canister, or shell, may then be reloaded quickly for reuse. This construction may be used to simulate any weapon wherein a plurality of pellets may accurately approximate the range of impact. Such weapons would include grenades, mortars, artillery, canister shells, shotguns or any other suitable weapon. The only issue in such approximations would be appropriately scaling up or down the launch canister and propellant. Likewise, the launch canister may be made for any non-lethal pellets, including but not limited to AIRSOFT and paintball pellets.
The present invention represents a departure from the prior art in that the simulated anti-personnel simulation device of the present invention allows for more realistic impact determination while quickly and effectively reloading the same for reuse.